Scary short stories

Chapter 8 Imagination Or Reality?

This story deals with the same friend who was in the Frantic Energy story I posted- she apparently is very sensitive to the paranormal and energy. A recent post on here reminded me of this encounter.

When we were a bit younger (not young enough to excuse being this stupid), there was an abandoned house across the street from my friend's house. They (my friend and her boyfriend) lived in a tiny town about an hour outside of Santa Fe and the area around is littered with old ruins (this is rather common in New Mexico). This house had sat empty for multiple years. It was an old abode that had likely been built around 1950, just judging by the stucco they used (there are different methods used and some of the older ones involve using chicken wire and straw, while more modern methods do not and use installation instead). What fascinated us was that you could still see the house completely set up through the windows- beds and pictures in place, cups sitting in the kitchen. The detached and rather dilapidated garage was full of fascinating antiques- old appliances, the glass conductors that used to be on telephone poles and old car parts- which also helped give a date to this home.

We, being rather irresponsible, decided that breaking in and exploring was the best thing to do. The door was held closed by a chain that did not have a lock attached (apparently, just a visual deterrent). It took us about five seconds to get into the house, which opened into the kitchen. It smelled rather terrible and we went back to get masks that my friend had at home for painting and other projects. It was a strange experience. The kitchen had plates that still had food and cups with old drinks in them that the family did not bother to move. There was boxes in the kitchen that made it seem like they had once planned to empty the house and then decided not to. Everything was still there- TV's, family pictures, records, jewelry and letters. The closet still had clothing hanging and the bathroom still had toothbrushes in the holder. The only tells that no one still lived there was the layer of dust on everything and the rotting food left behind. There was a part of the living room wall that had partially rotted out from what I presume was water damage. It was a one bedroom, one bathroom house with a large living room and kitchen- pretty normal for that area. We found paperwork in the bedroom- an older man who had died and the woman was very ill and likely dead at this point, since her paperwork was from years ago. There were even old oxygen containers and breathing masks in the bedroom.

What made that house strange and gave it a strange feeling were two rooms that were closed off. One seemed to be a catch-all: it was loaded with old art, old boxes, books, a birdcage and things that the owners apparently did not want to throw away. You could barely step through it, even though it was large enough to be a bedroom. A tiny room was off the kitchen. It has been painted over and locked with a slide and a chain lock. When we got the door open, it was apparent that room was caving in on itself. The floor was covered in inches of rubbish, but it held an old bed and an old dresser, which sent my friends on a tirade that someone had been locked in there. I don't believe that, since there was a window you could reach from on top the bed that would have served well as an escape and the room had obviously been sealed long ago. I figured it was a makeshift bedroom at one point in time that had no longer been needed.

As we were leaving, my friend said she could hear whispering in the house. Her fiance agreed with her and they hurried out. I heard absolutely nothing. Not a peep. Since there was no power -we brought our own flashlights- or working pipes, I could not even hear those normal house sounds. She and her boyfriend were very unsettled by it. No one seemed to know what it had said, just that it seems agitated. They were both standing right next to me when this is said to have happened. For the rest of the night, they were jumpy.

A day later, she gets a hold of me and says that a black figure was following them since they went into the house. They had taken some things out of the house (an old watch and an antique camera) and she believed that the spirit was mad at them for taking it. She said that once they returned the goods they had taken, she no longer felt followed or saw anything. They took a friend with them back into the house when they returned the items and he also agreed that he felt something there. He is also a very strong believer in the paranormal.

My question would be- am I incapable of having an experience or were my friends just freaked out by a weird old house? This is the second time this had happened with her- when she experienced something in a place I was and I got nothing out of it. Or did everyone just get unsettled by being in a strange place? Three people swear they experienced something in the same place I have been and even at the same time, but I still have not had an experience of my own.

The only thing that I got from that house was a hope that when I pass, someone at least takes the memories with them instead of leaving them to gather dust.

Also, don't break into houses, abandoned or not.